Emina Winery has an exclusive barrel store for ageing its red wines. There are 4.000 Bordeaux barrels of French and American oak; the wood roasting is light to medium and they are used for a maximum of 4 years for quality reasons.
The French oak is more expensive than American oak, because more wood from tree is required as it is creased rather than sawn, but it is well worth as it respects the character of the grape variety and the terroir better thanks to it having a narrower pore. That enables to obtain a more elegant wine with more subtle and delicate hues such as aromas of white pepper, honey, nuts, sweet and balsamic spices.
The American oak has a wider pore so the oxygen gets into the barrel quickly and gives the wines powerful aromas of vanilla, coconut, cocoa and coffee, with a creamy and sweet feel in the mouth that suits the Ribera wines very well.
Another interesting factor is the wood roasting. When the cooperage makes the barrels and he has all the staves ready, he must heat the barrel over a fire for 30 minutes and then he burns the wood with light, medium or high toasted that is very important for the colour, flavour, and texture of the wine.
You can appreciate the difference between the aromas in the jars.
Besides, you can observe different staves, some of them are deficiency staves due to several factors.
Winemakers store and age wine within oak barrels, as this improves the structure and body of the wine, while adding flavour from the oak.
The wine ageing in barrel can be made in three different ways:
- Coupage or blend: it is the process of blending wine that has made the ageing in French and American oak in a certain amount.
- Double ageing: when the same wine stays for a certain period of time in a type of oak and then in another one.
- A single ageing: it is the process when the winemaker uses just a specific oak.
Ageing time for the wines, whether in the barrel or in the bottle, are longer than required by the Control Board of the Denomination of Origin.
